Many all-in-one SEO platforms start as highly specialized tools. When we compare Long Tail Pro and Ahrefs, we see two fundamentally different approaches. The former application evolved from a keyword selection service, and the latter, from a program for backlink analysis. All other functions like technical site audit, competitor monitoring, and rank tracking were added later.
But this is not the only difference between the two platforms. Ahrefs is geared more towards well-trained professionals, while Long Tail Pro boasts of its accessibility for beginners. The former company sets high prices that serve as a barrier for most freelancers, while the latter is more loyal to small businesses.
Which approach is more effective? To answer this question, we’ll compare Long Tail Pro and Ahrefs.
What are Long Tail Pro and Ahrefs?
Long Tail Pro Brief Overview
This time, both names speak for themselves and require little to no explanation, at least for experienced SEO specialists. The Long Tail Pro platform was created in 2011 as a service for generating low-frequency keywords that can quickly bring success to a narrow market niche.
Initially, its authors focused on everything related to keywords. They added features for clustering queries, calculating optimization complexity, determining cost-per-click, and tracking rankings. But consistency is not the best strategy in a highly competitive market. To survive, a company must change by adapting to its environment.
That’s why the Long Tail Pro vs Ahrefs comparison has become increasingly relevant in recent years. In addition to intensive development, like adding new features, the platform has also taken an extensive path. There are now modules for site auditing, link building, and SERP analysis.
Pros
- Accurate keyword selection;
- Convenient rank tracking function;
- Large keyword database;
- Loyal pricing policy;
- Simple, minimalistic interface;
- The platform is suitable for comprehensive SEO;
- Free trial period available.
Cons
- Technical audit and link-building features are inferior to market leaders;
- Customer support in the basic subscription leaves much to be desired.
Ahrefs Overview
If you’re even superficially familiar with HTML, you’ll recognize this name as a tag fors a link to a web page. That’s right — created in 2011, the service initially specialized in analyzing backlinks.
The developers of Ahrefs and Long Tail Pro followed parallel paths. The former also started with intensive development. They added new features that allowed them to “peek” at competitors’ link-building strategies, analyze domain trust levels, recognize toxic links, and so on.
Then it was time for extensive growth. Technical auditing modules, keyword analysis, content marketing, and competitor monitoring were added to the platform. It earned a reputation as a leader and rightfully entered the list of top SEO services.
For an in-depth understanding of Ahrefs’ features and performance, check out our detailed Ahref Review.
Pros
- In-depth backlink analysis;
- Support for Google desktop and mobile versions;
- Easy keyword research;
- Possibility to integrate with other tools via API;
- Prompt and quality technical support for all subscribers.
Cons
- Complicated and confusing interface, which requires time and training;
- Expensive pricing plans, non-transparent pricing policy.
Feature Comparison
Backlink Analysis
Long Tail Pro
The service provides a standard set of functions. All you have to do is enter your site URL or a competitor’s domain to get the following information:
- Total number of backlinks;
- Authority level;
- Traffic generated by your link-building strategy;
- Citation trends;
- Anchor distribution.
The platform also performs quick diagnostics. It shows broken links in a separate report, which allows you to recover them and improve the visibility of the web page as quickly as possible.
The service can also be used to monitor competitors. However, in the Ahrefs vs Long Tail Pro comparison, the latter application is noticeably inferior. It only allows you to see which domains your market segment leaders are betting on. This will be enough to find missed opportunities, but you will need more detail to build an effective link-building strategy.
Long Tail Pro has a simple, minimalistic interface that makes it easy for even beginners to build links. But the pricing policy of the platform is not so straightforward. On the one hand, there are rather strict limits on the number of trials. On the other hand, the company periodically gives out gifts that can significantly increase this number for one month.
Ahrefs
Should we say that in the Long Tail Pro vs Ahrefs comparison, we know the winner in advance? Let’s start with the fact that the latter service is the leader in terms of database content, offering more than 4 trillion links. And this is not just a publicity stunt — during the review, we got 2-4 times more results than the competition could offer us!
Ahrefs comparison with alternative platforms shows that this service can offer a unique feature. It not only monitors your competitors but also helps you form a successful link-building strategy based on their successful solutions. Once you get a report on the quality of backlinks, you will see who in your segment chooses the same optimization areas. To get detailed information, just click on the company’s domain. The app will show you which popular content sites are not yet covered, how much traffic they can bring, and which anchors work best.
Although Ahrefs is often criticized for its complicated interface, which is overloaded with many functional elements, this does not apply to its link-building module. It delivers simple and straightforward reports. The graphs allow you to not only evaluate the dynamics but also find issues , including lost links due to technical problems and an increase in spammy content that can damage your reputation. Reports can be customized and detailed to assess every aspect of your marketing strategy. For example, you can filter out links with specific anchors or with dofollow tags. If that’s not enough, custom tags will come to the rescue.
Verdict: Ahrefs wins
The Long Tail Pro vs Ahrefs comparison ends with a complete victory for the latter. The service, which originally specialized in backlink analysis, confirms its reputation today. If link building is at the core of your optimization strategy, we recommend choosing Ahrefs. It is also suitable for companies that rely on outreach and guest posts.
Explore a range of other options in our Ahref Alternatives article, which offers insights into similar tools in the market.
Keyword Research
Long Tail Pro
In this case, the situation is the opposite. At first glance, Long Tail Pro and Ahrefs offer the same features, but the former is still far ahead of its competitor. Its main advantage is the ability to select low-frequency queries. To get a detailed report, you just need to enter a keyword. The results can be filtered by all possible parameters, ranging from the amount of traffic to the cost per click in contextual advertising.
Long Tail Pro comes out ahead in many comparisons due to its simple interface, which will be understandable even to a beginner. However, we need to make a couple of important clarifications here. First, you need to create a separate list for each group of keywords. If you don’t, you will mix “buy fresh oranges in LA” with “used cars auction NY” and get completely uninformative results. Second, we strongly recommend you study the list of filters first and disable the unnecessary ones. This way, you can greatly simplify the report, making it more clear and useful in general.
Long Tail Pro and Ahrefs are roughly equal in terms of database content. The difference lies precisely in the granularity. The first service generates much more low-frequency queries. In addition, its estimates of the complexity of optimization for certain keywords are very accurate, and not inferior to market leaders.
Ahrefs
The platform is also great at keyword research, which is no surprise since its database contains almost 7 billion queries. And yet it is inferior to the competitor in terms of low-frequency granularity. It is not so easy to look for convenient areas of optimization that will quickly lead your business to success.
However, you shouldn’t be too biased when it comes to the Ahrefs vs Long Tail Pro comparison. It also offers several unique features. One of them is the display-to-click ratio calculation. Ever since Google started showing SERP snippets, this metric has become especially important. Sometimes, users get everything they need already on the search results page — they are not motivated to click on links. Optimization in these directions will not bring you a serious return.
Ahrefs offers other interesting metrics. Among them is the return rate (RR). It shows the probability of a user entering the same query into the search bar over a period of 30 days. This figure is very useful for those who use remarketing tools. You can use it to determine whether you can increase sales by offering the same product to the user repeatedly.
If you compare Ahrefs and Long Tail Pro, the difference in the quality of interface design is minimal. On the one hand, the first platform looks more complex and confusing. On the other hand, it offers more filters and settings. Choose the option that you prefer.
Verdict: Long Tail Pro wins
Deeper analytics, better granularity, more tools, easier path to successful optimization. If quality content dominates your SEO strategy, choose this service. The user-friendly interface and favorable subscription plans are an added bonus
Rank Tracker
Long Tail Pro
By and large, the platform offers you the same metrics as Google Search Console. The only difference is the convenience of the report, which highlights key metrics and helps you get more information with a quick look at the statistics. It focuses on graphs that can help you track the gains or losses of positions for certain queries. By clicking on a competitor’s domain, you can view the specifics of their link-building strategy or keyword optimization. But this actually refers to the other modules which we discussed above.
Unfortunately, as we compare Long Tail Pro and Ahrefs, we have to opt for the latter. And the reason is very simple — the former service doesn’t have its own crawler. This means that you have to enter keywords or upload listings manually. For any business that works with a more or less broad customer base, this would require the use of an additional tool — paid or free. A paid tool puts an extra strain on your budget, and obtaining a free tool is just a hassle.
Ahrefs
The service has been on the list of leaders for many years in a row for a reason. When it comes to rank tracking, it provides its subscribers with incredible granularity. You can filter the results by traffic volume, complexity of optimization, cost per click in contextual advertising, and even domain presence in SERP snippets.
And the main reason the platform wins in the Ahrefs vs Long Tail Pro comparison is that it does the job automatically. You don’t have to waste time gathering information manually — just run the crawler, which will select keywords for you and identify your competitors. Of course, if necessary, you can add data yourself if you want to expand your SEO strategy.
The final report seems overloaded with information and settings. Indeed, it is difficult to understand . But if you take the time to familiarize yourself with all the details, you will find many interesting indicators. For example, calculating your market share and comparing it to your competitors. You can see how much potential traffic you can poach from other companies.
Verdict: Ahrefs wins.
Although this platform needs to improve its user experience (UX), when choosing Long Tail Pro or Ahrefs, we’ll opt for the latter. The service offers much more analytics, essentially providing you with everything you need to form a successful marketing strategy. It has features that are useful for huge portals as well as small websites belonging to small businesses.
Website Audit
Long Tail Pro
We think you’ll agree that most SEO platforms deal with technical problems on web pages. And many of them do it for free. Therefore, the very availability of such a module and the number of its functions do not surprise us. Instead, we will focus on other important details.
In the Long Tail Pro comparison with other services, a report called Site Health comes out on top. It calculates an integral assessment of the resource’s condition on a scale of 0 to 10. What’s new, you may ask? Well, that’s the index calculated by other applications. However Long Tail Pro’s feature is that it compares the health of your site to your competitors optimized for the same keywords. This allows you to see technical issues that are weighing down your optimization strategy. As a result, you can set priorities on your to-do list for the near future.
When evaluating the effectiveness of Long Tail Pro and Ahrefs, we’d also like to focus on the personalized reports that the former service provides. The report covers the following areas :
- Website crawling problems;
- Web page and multimedia content loading speed;
- Content markup and layout;
- Meta tags and HTML code;
- Additional plugins and scripts, etc.
By identifying problems during the initial crawl, you can focus on fixing the smallest flaws. As a result, you can gain an advantage in highly competitive segments, where it is very difficult to outperform through link building and keywords.
Ahrefs
Technical auditing has only recently appeared in Long Tail Pro, whereas Ahrefs has supported this module for several years in a row. But in this case, we can’t say that experience solves everything. The Ahrefs report often does not contain the real bugs that other services find. And this is a serious problem because you can only count on superficial optimization rather than deep modernization of your site.
In the Long Tail Pro vs Ahrefs review, it’s worth noting another disadvantage of the latter platform. Its crawler works very slowly — large sites with more than 1,000 pages take over an hour to process. You could disregard this — after all, the process takes place in the background and does not require your direct involvement. But spending so much time and getting unsatisfying results is not acceptable.
The final report looks more complicated than that of Long Tail Pro — you’ll need some practice to understand all the details. Moreover, it’s almost impossible to personalize. You get general information without the possibility of in-depth granularity.
Verdict: Long Tail Pro wins
Sometimes, a fresh look at familiar things brings tangible benefits. Keep this in mind when you’re making your choice — Ahrefs or Long Tail Pro. The latter option gives you a better audit and granularity of the results. With it, you have a better chance of coming out on top in highly competitive market segments.
Gain a comprehensive understanding of this tool’s strengths and weaknesses in our Long Tail Pro Review.
Comparison of other features
One of Long Tail Pro’s features, which is extremely rare in the field, is a separate SERP analytics module. It is responsible for a detailed parsing of 200 SERP pages for certain keywords that you enter manually. It allows you to find out the percentage of links that account for paid and organic traffic, SERP snippets, FAQs, definitions, and references.
If you’re choosing between Long Tails Pro and Ahrefs, the former will give you more information to think about. With it, you can find the shortest path to your target audience, without spending long months of optimization and tens of thousands of dollars of marketing costs.
But in the Ahrefs vs Long Tail Pro review, we should mention that a competitor also offers an interesting feature. We’re talking about a content management module that helps improve the quality of text content on a site. It finds the most successful web pages for certain keywords and generates topics that are guaranteed to attract your visitors’ attention.
Ahrefs knows how to generate draft articles while taking SEO optimization requirements into consideration. Once you have a ready-made structure, all that remains is to submit the ToR to the copywriter and monitor the quality of the material.
Price comparison
Long Tail Pro
The service is loyal to all its customers, including freelancers, novice SEO specialists, and small businesses. It offers the following pricing plans:
- Starter — $59.99 per month, 2 projects, 30 keywords for research, up to 800 low-frequency queries in 24 hours;
- Pro — $89.99 per month, 10 projects, 200 keywords, 2,500 low-frequency queries per day;
- Agency — $299.99 per month, 35 projects, 1,000 keywords, 6,000 low-frequency queries per day.
If you compare Long Tail Pro pricing vs Ahrefs pricing, the first option looks much more affordable. Moreover, you can take advantage of the 7-day free trial period or request a refund if you don’t get tangible results in 2 months.
Ahrefs
The platform was originally designed for professionals and large businesses. That’s why you should be ready for some expensive subscription plans :
- Lite — $99 per month, 5 projects, 750 keywords;
- Standard — $199 per month, 20 projects, 2,000 keywords, professional link mass analysis, 6-month historical data;
- Advanced — $399 per month, 50 projects, 5,000 keywords, Google Data Studio integration, and 2 years of historical data;
- Enterprise — $999 per month, 100 projects, 10,000 keywords, open API, no restrictions on the age of statistics, and the possibility of customizing your subscription.
Comparing Ahrefs pricing vs Long Tail Pro pricing, we should note that the former company not only requires more payment but also provides non-transparent conditions. You’ll have to pay extra for many features, including daily rank tracker updates and more users.
Alternatives to Ahrefs and Long Tail Pro
SE Ranking
When we discuss Ahrefs or Long Tail Pro, we’re talking about services that have grown from highly specialized tools to all-in-one SEO platforms. The review shows that this approach has its drawbacks. The applications still emphasize their original specialization, paying less attention to new features.
Therefore, as an alternative to Ahrefs and Long Tail Pro, it is worth considering SE Ranking,a program that has focused on comprehensive SEO since the very beginning. The SE Ranking platform offers the following advantages:
- The simplest possible interface — as in modern mobile applications;
- One of the best modules for technical site audit — identifies the smallest problems and gives recommendations on how to fix them;
- A large volume of backlinks and keywords in its own database;
- An intelligent content marketing module that not only drafts a new article but also helps improve the quality of existing content;
- A detailed analysis of the effectiveness of PPC campaigns.
SE Ranking’s pricing policy is also more affordable than our comparison participants’. There are three basic subscription plans available:
- Essential — from $55 per month, 1 user, 10 projects, 750 keywords per day, monitoring of 5 competitors.
- Pro — $109 per month, 3 users, 2,000 keywords per day, 10 competitors.
- Enterprise — $239 per month, 5 users, 5,000 keywords every 24 hours, 20 competitors.
Alternatively, you can contact the company’s representatives directly and request a subscription with customized terms. This is a convenient option if you need to increase the limits in one module without increasing the cost of the subscription plan .
If you’re considering different options, our Long Tail Pro Alternatives article provides a thorough comparison of similar services.
Conclusion
The comparison of Long Tail Pro vs Ahrefs gives a very interesting picture. The former service wins in terms of keyword research and technical auditing. Although it is still less recognized, it has an excellent chance to replace today’s leaders and break into the list of the top SEO platforms.
Ahrefs remains powerful in its traditional areas of link building and rank tracking. It provides more in-depth analytics and gives its users more tools to personalize their reports.
If we compare Ahrefs vs Long Tail Pro in terms of pricing, we also cannot identify a clear leader. Ahrefs subscriptions are frustrating with high costs and non-transparent terms, while Long Tail Pro plans set very strict limits on requests.
For those who want access to a comprehensive SEO platform that works equally well in all areas, the best option would be to subscribe to SE Ranking. The service combines Long Tail Pro’s voluminous databases and Ahrefs’ deep analytics. At the same time, you will enjoy a much more loyal pricing policy with flexible subscription plans.